STANFORD UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
485 LASUEN MALL
STANFORD, CA 94305-3096
http://ed.stanford.edu

New study shows certified teachers produce stronger student achievement
than teachers without preparation, including Teach for America recruits

April 15, 2005

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CONTACT: Barbara McKenna, Communications Director, Center for Teacher Education and
School Reform, Stanford University School of Education, mckenna@handful.biz, (831) 460-9933

URL: http://schoolredesign.net/srn/news/certification.html

Stanford, CA---In the face of recent debates about whether teacher education makes a
difference to teacher quality, a new large-scale study by Stanford University School of Education
Professor Linda Darling-Hammond and colleagues shows that certified teachers consistently
produce significantly stronger student achievement gains than do uncertified teachers. Released
today at the American Education Research Association (AERA) annual meeting in Montreal,
Canada, the results are especially important to many urban and poor rural districts which, as a
result of high teacher demand, have hired a growing number of individuals on emergency permits
or waivers who lack formal preparation for teaching. Typically, these teachers teach low-income
and minority students in the most disadvantaged schools.

Darling-Hammond, along with Deborah Holtzman, SuJin Gatlin, and Julian Vasquez Heilig,
examined data for over 4,000 teachers and over 130,000 students from Houston, Texas, linking
student characteristics and achievement with data about their teachers’ certification status,
experience, and degree levels from 1995 to 2002. The results of their study of 4th and 5th grade
students’ achievement gains on 6 different reading and mathematics tests over a six-year period
show that students who were taught by certified teachers consistently out-performed those who
were taught by uncertified teachers. (The study defined certified teachers as those holding
standard state certification in Texas, granted to teachers who have completed an approved
teacher education program.) The analyses controlled for students’ prior achievement and
characteristics as well as other teacher and school characteristics. The researchers also found
that alternatively certified teachers are significantly less effective than certified teachers in most
cases.

“Like many other studies, these data show that poor and minority students are most likely to be
assigned unqualified teachers and are most likely to be harmed by their lack of knowledge and
skills,” said Darling-Hammond. “The study suggests that investments in well-prepared teachers
are critically important to closing the achievement gap and improving learning.”

Darling-Hammond and colleagues also specifically examined whether Teach for America (TFA)
candidates – graduates from selective universities who receive a few weeks of training before
they begin teaching – are as effective as similarly experienced certified teachers. Some have
argued that such bright young people – who commit two years to teaching in urban districts – do
not need special preparation for teaching in order to be successful. Controlling for teacher
experience, degrees, and student characteristics, their study shows that uncertified TFA recruits
negatively affect student achievement relative to certified teachers, and perform about as well as
other uncertified teachers. TFA recruits who become certified do about as well as other certified
teachers in supporting student achievement gains. However, virtually all TFA recruits had left
teaching by their 3rd year, just as they became more effective.

Darling-Hammond notes that this is the first study to compare TFA recruits with differently
prepared or certified recruits, while taking into account students’ prior learning. Two prior studies
found that TFA recruits’ students achieved comparable or better gains in student learning when
compared to other new teachers in similar schools, but in both of these studies recruits were
compared to teachers who were also disproportionately untrained and uncertified Both of these
studies found that the students in these schools generally made relatively little progress in their
achievement. Neither explicitly compared TFA teachers to teachers with standard training and
certification.

The study notes that the conditions that create a revolving door of underprepared teachers in
high-poverty schools are not inevitable. Research on urban districts that recruit and retain well-
qualified teachers force has identified salaries, working conditions, preparation, and mentoring as
critical elements in building a strong, stable teaching force.

For the complete study: http://schoolredesign.net/srn/news/certification.html
Stanford University School of Education: http://ed.stanford.edu

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